


The Investment

by sumiya



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Tenimyuart Secret Santa, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 14:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2854943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sumiya/pseuds/sumiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you're an investor, you can look at the quantitative and qualitative elements of an investment, but there's a third aspect: What you feel in your gut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Investment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seki/gifts).



> Wiritten for the tenimyuart secret santa at tumblr. Beta-ed by amazing [lahdolphin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lahdolphin/pseuds/lahdolphin).

“I fold,” Yanagi said after he saw the first of his cards. It wasn’t his usual tactic, and it hurt his forsaken pride, but there was no use in playing at this table for any longer. Before standing up, he nodded politely to the dealer, without looking back at his apparently discouraged challenger. Nonetheless, he caught a glimpse of said challenger before leaving the casino, through the reflection on the glass door. The man was looking straight at him.

Yanagi’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He would have to stop frequenting this casino too, and this limitation was starting to get problematic and inconvenient for his interests. There were just too few illegal casinos to test his abilities, and losing one was in demerit of his possibilities of profit. Yanagi zipped his jacket all the way up before facing the cold air of the winter night.

A breeze hit him hard in the face and he felt his nose and ears going numb. It somewhat eased his annoyance at how the night had turned out. Yanagi hadn’t expected to win much tonight, but winning nothing meant that he would have to recalculate his balance and catch up next week. He was smart and careful enough to not carelessly win every time he played, and usually made strategic loses that would turn into great profits later on. Was it risky? Yes. While there were many factors that could be calculated on the table while working the numbers of cards in his head, a small mistake could give him away and could result in being banned from the place, and could take him to jail. There was the fact that of most of the casinos were operated by yakuza, and therefore earning a debt or being given six grams of lead if he made a grave mistake. Was it worth it? Definitely. 

Granted, questionably-legal earnings hadn’t been his first choice of a life– he had a major in Literature after all. Unfortunately, writing was not nearly enough to cover Yukimura’s hospital fees, as of late.

Yanagi thought of his and Sanada’s worried faces as they were told that yet another surgery was needed. Sanada had needed to quit the dojo in order to take care of Yukimura full time and suddenly Yanagi had needed to start earning enough money to pay for the hospital fees by himself. He had told them his career as writer was finally launching, because he hadn’t had the heart to tell them he had been spending his nights at casinos counting cards and flirting with older women that enjoyed his young looks and smooth voice. He wasn’t proud of it, but he, _they_ , didn’t have time for morality either.

Usually, his gambles went as planned but when, like tonight, another player joined the game, _his game_ , and counted the cards as well, it messed up his perfectly outlined statistics and probabilities. Of course, Yanagi could have gone on and beat him first-hand, if he had been riled by a foolish pride. But the other man had looked experienced and that would have meant a challenge, which would have raised suspicion to the casino surveillance team’s careful eyes. It would have been a waste of time and money that only increased the risks, so it was wisest to just go and try again next week.

Yanagi hunched in a little trying to retain his body warmth as he walked the lonely, cold streets of Tokyo. Sometimes, he wondered how it would be like, belonging to one of the powerful families that owned multinational enterprises to whom money was not an issue at all. 

“I have a proposition for you,” someone whispered in his ear and Yanagi turned around, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes open wide in surprise. There was a man with a grin on his face standing there that had come close enough to whisper in his ear. 

“I do not offer those kind of services and I’m not interested in drugs,” Yanagi said with a calm voice before turning around and walking way. The man started to follow him.

Yanagi could feel his own heartbeat in his ears as he searched manically inside his head for the best technique to render the other man unconscious, if it came to a fight. Yanagi had spent too many afternoons in a dojo with Sanada to go down without a fight.

“Ah, but you wouldn’t even hear my offer? I bet you would find it interesting.”

“No.”

“Look, I---”As the other made to grab Yanagi’s shoulder, Yanagi turned around and hit the man’s windpipe hard with the side of his hand before forcing the offending arm behind the man’s back to incapacitate him. There were choking noises and spluttered curses and Yanagi just kicked him behind the knees.

“I said no.”

“Stop! Shit!” The voice sounded vaguely familiar but Yanagi didn’t release the other man. “Work proposition! I saw you at the table, playing cards.” Had Yanagi been identified by the cameras in the casino? If so, this man was out to threaten him or blackmail him into something. Yanagi pressed down harder. “Fuck! Not a cop! Or a yakuza! I’m just like you. Teamwork! Okay!? Teamwork!”

Yanagi was taken aback.

“Teamwork?”

“I’m the best at what I do. Stealing is easier and more profitable with a partner. You know… fuck.. would you release my arm? I like my shoulder in its socket,” the man asked, but Yanagi didn’t relent. It could still be a trap of some kind. “Because knowing the tendency in the card choice makes a predictable game. We dictate the rules.”

 _That_ made Yanagi take a step back and let go of the other man.

The person stumbled to his feet and Yanagi worried if he had made a mistake in releasing him, because the man looked far too entertained and happy for having been manhandled into submission.

“I wasn’t wrong. You are really something, aren’t you?” Finally seeing the man face to face for more than a second, Yanagi realized why the voice had seemed familiar before.

“I’ve seen you, betting against me. You were different, though.” The hair had been considerably shorter,in a shade of brown, and he had worn glasses, the perfect image of a businessman looking for the thrill of game night. This time, however, he looked like a pimp, with a flashy red coat and matching jewelry. There was more than one reason to be completely distrustful of this new stranger, and yet Yanagi felt intrigued.

“What can I say? I like cosplay. Fun shit, you should try it out.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

The man put a hand on Yanagi’s shoulder, slowly and deliberately, wisely giving Yanagi the chance to move if he wanted to. Surely he had learned his lesson and didn’t want to be put into another compromising position on the floor. “Hear me out. I am the best and I’m aiming for the big prize this time, but I can’t do it on my own. I’ve been watching you for a while now, and you are _good_. I’ve seen so many asswipes getting blown up for trying to mess with these people but you play it smart. Just think about it.”

And just like that, without further explanation, the man was gone and Yanagi was left alone, standing in the dark alley wondering if this had been just a trick of his mind. A hallucination of an over-creative mind, filled with guilt and fear for what he had been doing.

It wasn’t until later in the safety of his small apartment, when he took his jacket off and saw something shining from one of the pockets that proved it was all the truth. It was a business card, not of an illegal casino, but one of the Atobe entertainment centers, and scribbled behind it were a name and a number.

 _Niou_.

 

(x)

 

The waitress left the drinks on the table and Niou looked up from the Sudoku puzzle he was solving to wink at her. “Thanks.”

“Can I get you anything else?” she said between giggles but the guy in front of him cut her down immediately.

“No, and we would like to stay as undisturbed as possible from now on, thank you,” he answered and Niou shrugged apologetically at her, before she left.

“So cold.”

“We’re here to do business, not to play around,” the guy, ‘Kyojyu’, said and tapped on the sheet to attract Niou’s attention to it. It had taken him two days to finally call Niou and schedule a meeting; he had chosen the place and time and set some conditions like fake names and stuff like that. To be honest, this guy had a Yagyuu vibe to some degree, with how uptight and boring when they were being serious about something. It was kind of endearing, really. 

“Awing your surroundings with your charm is part of the job. You know that.”

“I hardly see how flirting with the waitress is going to be helpful to obtain our goal,” ‘Kyoujyu’ said and Niou was torn between teasing him more or just get down with it and be over. There was something about the guy that fascinated him and annoyed him at the same time.

“Here,” Niou replied instead, handing over the completed puzzle. The guy looked at it, or at least Niou thought he did since the guy always kept his eyes closed, and gave a nod of approval.

“It’s correct, and your time wasn’t bad either.” Well at least, he should try to sound happy about it. Or mad. Or something. Niou rolled his eyes, having a poker face was great for playing cards but not so good for obtaining a partner in crime.

“Try to give me an actual challenge now so we can get down to business.” For solving all the puzzles the other gave him, Niou was growing tired of it. He knew deep inside it was part of the job interview, even if Niou was the one recruiting this ‘Kyojyu’ and not the other way around. The guy smiled a little and Niou thought it was the first time he showed an emotion since they met. Well, beside the fact he had gotten quite the scare with Niou popping out of nowhere to whisper in his ear. This was going to be probably good.

“Let’s play a game,” ‘Kyojyu said and pulled a shogi board. Shit. It wasn’t Niou’s specialty but damn he was going to try.

“Are you sure? I thought you didn’t like losing.”

“We’ll see.”

 

Almost two hours later, Kyojyui did the final move and won the match. Niou cursed, lit a fag and glared at the manager that was going to tell him off for it. ‘Kyojyu’ kept on staring at the board, but he wasn’t smiling down at him and that impenetrable façade was a bit worn down and frayed.

“I shouldn’t have won.”

Niou didn’t reply.

“Those last moves were incorrect and you could have turned the tables to your favor,” the guy continued, looking more shaken by the second. “And you knew about it. You could have won but you didn’t, I just realized.”

“Counting cards is easy,” Niou said looking straight into those eyes that were sharp and open for once. “The actual trick is to play your opponents to the point they don’t feel cheated at all and accept defeat. Once they accept it, there would be no questioning of your victory.”

They stayed in silent for a long time.

“My name is Yanagi Renji.”

Niou grinned.

 

(x) 

 

Niou was like a curious cat. He came and went whenever he pleased and boundaries or respect for personal space seemed to be unknown concepts for him. Nonetheless, Yanagi had to admit they made a good combination.

They first started meeting in cafés where they would spent full afternoons learning each other's mannerisms and ways to play the cards. Niou learned with surprising speed and was indeed a good player. He adapted quickly to new situations, counted cards efficiently and always showed up pretending to be someone else. Once, he even showed up with a Lolita outfit and changed his voice through the whole time they were together. He wouldn’t fool Yanagi, but any other person would fall for his tricks in a heartbeat.

The first time they put their combined skills at use in a yakuza casino, they made it out of it alive and with double the amount of earnings Yanagi could do in a night. They still needed to split it, but it showed some promise.

After that, the meetings stopped taking place in crowded places and moved to Yanagi’s apartment. There were so many different personalities Niou could fake in public but Yanagi still looked the same and it would be better if they kept a low profile until they finally hit Atobe’s casino. With every passing day, Yanagi was even more convinced they could actually make some interesting profits out of it. 

Niou wandered around the apartment, looking through the little things on the shelves while Yanagi prepared tea for both of them.

“Who are they?” Yanagi looked up from where he was preparing the cups. He frowned and reached forward to take the framed picture from Niou’s hands. It was the one from where Sanada, Yukimura and himself had won a tennis tournament together back when they were teenagers.

“They’re not your business,” Yanagi snapped and placed it safely away from Niou’s curious eyes and hands.

“Oh, did I touch a nerve?” Niou smirked a little as he leaned into the doorframe. “Blue is pretty but I’m sure he’s evil. Grumpy looks like an ass but he’s probably a softy and you kinda looked like a girl. And you’re not.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Of which part?”

Yanagi glared at him and went past him to get to the living room. “We can’t just keep ourselves to cards if we’re going to Atobe’s. It would be too suspicious. I do not do sports betting.”

“Because you played them. Honor and fair play?” Niou said as he turned around, head leading the body (just like a cat), and sat in front of Yanagi. “Sorry to disappoint you, but most of the players are sold to the higher bidders nowadays.”

“That’s why it’s an unreliable and risky bet. Pachinko?” Yanagi asked, wanting to get away from the subject of sports and his past. Ghosts should stay where they belong.

“Could be. It’s a pain to break the code, though. Are you good at it?” Niou said before taking a sip of the tea without testing the temperature first. Yanagi believed Niou did a good job pretending he hadn’t just scalded his tongue.

“I can break one in around twenty minutes, recovering at least 50% of the investment coin within the next four tries and 150% in the next ten minutes.”

“Impressive. We don’t want to attract much attention, though.”

“We could try it for the first recognition visit. If there is a blackjack table, I’m positive we could win at it as well. The odds are not too favorable, but again, they would be part of the investment for the larger target,” Yanagi replied, absently twirling the tea with the spoon. “We can’t have many of them, two at most. We need to make the best of them.”

“I can get us those two without a problem,” Niou said and took a cookie from the plate and just played with it.

“I have no doubt. The real problem is to get access to the big player’s room on the designated date.” Atobe was really picky over letting anyone enter there, exclusivity and legality being the main issues. They needed to win his trust before they could get in.

“I have that covered too, but the two first are a necessity. No first time players allowed there.”

“This will be risky,” Yanagi sighed, heavily, as he finished his tea. He hated uncertainty, unknown factors that could bring everything he had worked so hard for down. Maybe if he stuck to minor betting in the usual casinos, maybe he…

“I know. Love that shit. How about you? What’s your reason to put yourself on the line,?” Niou wasn’t even pretending to play with the cookie anymore and was staring intently at him, waiting for an answer. “You look like a nice guy. Is it the shitty job or the thrill of beating a bunch of losers?”

“Money. Isn’t that always that the motive?”

“Not for smart guys like you. It’s illegal but not too illegal and you want money bad and quickly with no strings attached. I have this feeling that you’re going to disappear without a second notice if we succeed and you always look guilty when we come here after winning. You’re not aiming for a fancy easy life.”

Niou was remarkably good at reading people.

“I do not appreciate my intimacy being breached like this, Niou. Please refrain of trying to analyze me like you would do to an opponent. I will comply with my part of the deal and that’s all you need to know.”

“So cold.”

 

  
Yanagi’s phone buzzed later that night with a text alert. Sanada. The doctors had finally set a date for Yukimura’s surgery. Since the mortality rate was rather high, every pending fee was needed to be covered before the procedure took place. Sanada and Yanagi’s compromised savings weren’t enough. 

 

(x)

 

The only bad thing about Yanagi was that he showed little to no emotion at all. It was a good tactic for playing cards because opponents weren’t able to read you, but a lousy tactic to get them to play you more. There is not fun in playing against an impenetrable concrete wall, you need to see a human you can dream of defeating. That was something Niou needed to fix tonight.

He looked at himself in the full length mirror of the bathroom and smiled, pleased with himself. A practical lesson worked much better than hours of talking about it. Niou looked at the clock on the nightstand- it was five to nine and Yanagi should arrive at any second now.

And as if it had been summoned, there was a knock on the door.

Niou had asked Yanagi to wear his best for the first recognition trip to Atobe’s and after opening the door, he was not disappointed. Yanagi was wearing a black suit with a steel-blue tie and his hair was wet and slicked back, revealing he had quite the pretty face under that mess of bowl-bangs. Actually, Niou felt tempted to send recognition night to hell and fuck him right then, right there.

What was even better, though, was the priceless dumbstruck expression on his usually composed face.  
“Renji, darling. Want something to drink before we go?” Niou said, pitching his voice to sound like a woman’s. It matched his outfit, really. Black tight short dress, stilettos and wavy wig that reached his hip. Now he could see the Lolita outfit didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, apparently lanky Yanagi’s desire was with the femme fatale curves.

“Are you really going out like that? This is not a game, Niou.” That goes for lust and desire, as Yanagi sounded really pissed off. To be honest, that only added to the fun.

“Ma-sa-ko~” Niou corrected with a small smirk as he tapped on Yanagi’s lower lip with each syllable. “Tonight, it’s Masako. And Renji, it _is_ a game. One that we will lose if you can’t adjust to upper class shenanigans. Shall we go now?”

Niou didn’t give him the chance of replying before he dragged him to the elevator.

 

It was one of Niou’s best night ever. From the way Yanagi Adam’s apple bobbed during the ride to Atobe’s when he peeked to see Niou’s thighs and the way his hand shook when he took Niou by the waist, to the way he killed and overpowered every round at the tables. Every time Yanagi started to close into himself as he calculated the probabilities of card choices, Niou would crawl up to his lap or ran a hand up his thigh. They lost the expected rounds, but it was alright because ‘Masako’ would take these chances to whisper data he had over the players into Yanagi’s ear, and enjoy how he blushed when Niou finished the sentence by biting teasingly on his ear. Atobe suspected nothing when he came by to greet the players of the most animated table in the house, as Niou giggled at the way Yanagi ‘kissed’ his neck but in reality whispered to his skin and just loud enough for him to hear all the information they needed. Niou loved this game, and finally getting to play it with someone at his level was exactly what he had aimed for. They got this.

 

Yanagi was just _ecstatic_ on the ride back, like Niou had never seen him before. The data spilled from his lips in a messy order, his eyes were lively and open and his cheeks were tinted red by excitement and wine. Plus, they did win a great sum of money.

“That was amazing,” Yanagi said smiling a little, as he sat on Niou’s couch. “I had…fun, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. We were working, remember?” Niou replied before grabbing the front part of the wig and taking it off along the cap to free his white hair and ruffle it to his natural form. “That is how games are played by the rich people, if you’re too uptight you will be thrown out of there in no time.”

“I-I understand,” Yanagi said looking down, but still he looked more relaxed than ever Niou had ever seen him before.

“We’ll check the pachinko machines next time.” Niou sighed as he took his tights off. “Wanna drink something?”

“I think I already drank too much.”

“Bullshit, you had like three cups of wine.” Niou rolled his eyes and served two whiskeys anyway before sitting heavily next to Yanagi and handing over the drink. Niou drank his in one go.

“Why do you this?” Yanagi asked, moving the whiskey inside the glass. “You have money, so I’ve eliminated that reason, and yet you invest too much time into this. I don’t understand.”

“How do you feel right now?”

“Excuse me?”

“Physically, emotionally, whatever. Describe it for me, data man.”

“Exhilarated, accelerated heartbeat, my pupils are probably dilated, hot, dizzy…” Yanagi started and fell silent, thinking his answer. “Alive.”

“Exactly.”

Yanagi stayed silent for such a long time Niou started to think he had fallen asleep, couldn’t really tell with how Yanagi kept his eyes closed most of the time. He was tired himself, so he stood up to head up to bed but Yanagi grabbed him by the wrist.

“I think I’m starting to understand now, thank you Niou. I shall take my leave now,” Yanagi said and stood up, leaving the glass on the bar. He took the wad of money they won that night out of his jacket and started to count the bills.

“Stop that. Keep my share this time.”

“No. I can’t.”

“Yes, you fucking can,” Niou replied with a frown, before he forcibly shoved them inside Yanagi’s jacket. “I don’t know your specific reasons, but you stink like hospital more often than not. You need this, I don’t. Keep it.”

Niou had seen Yanagi’s eyes open from time to time, but never like this. He looked so guiltily grateful it hurt. Damn, what he had done? Yanagi came forward, stumbling slightly, and the next thing Niou knew was the feeling of Yanagi’s lips on his.

Yanagi pulled apart, looking away and there was the most awkward silence in existence.

“I—I will pay you back when the job’s done.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Yanagi bowed, turned around and left. Niou drank Yanagi’s forgotten whiskey, thinking of a cold shower.

After jerking off at the memory of how good that lips had felt, of course. 

 

(x)

 

“I will get it. Don’t worry abo—I say don’t. Genichirou, listen to me. We can’t afford you losing your ground right now. You’re what keeps him strong, please understand,” Yanagi hissed to his phone. “Leave it to me. No. That should be the least of your worries.”

Yanagi pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyed despair. Yukimura’s surgery needed to be rushed as his lungs started to present failure signs and Sanada was losing his mind over it. Yanagi had it covered. Yes, they would need to change the date for the main heist but if things worked as he expected them to that night, most of the hospital fees would be covered before that and the needed surgery could take place. Before meeting Niou, Yanagi hadn’t factored the actual amount of profits of playing at Atobe’s but now he was sure it would be enough.

“It doesn’t matter where it comes from, Genichirou!” That had been louder than Yanagi had intended it to be and he got stares from the people passing by. He sighed in defeat. “I said I’ll have the money tomorrow and I’ve never failed to keep my word to Seiichi or you, I’m not going to start now. I have to go, please take care of him.”

Yanagi hung up and leaned into the wall of the alley, taking a couple of deep breaths. Everything was going to be alright. He would make sure of it.

 

He didn’t remember much of the walk to the casino and after checking his clock one more time, Yanagi confirmed Niou was the one running late. Several minutes passed where Yanagi’s calls were ignored and when Niou finally showed up, Yanagi couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“What’s the meaning of this?” He demanded. They were supposed to visit the big players’ room that day. Yanagi had expected for Niou to show up with an elaborated disguise that would grant them access, even more so for the lateness, but he had been wrong. There were no wigs or fancy coats, not even something to mask the bright silver white hair. Niou stood there being, well, himself. At least, the hood was missing and replaced by a jacket.

“What’s the meaning of what?” Niou had the nerve to arch an eyebrow at him and looking puzzled, fuelling Yanagi’s displeasure.

“Don’t play with me, Niou.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s get inside,” Niou said with a smirk before he entered the casino. Yanagi followed him, glaring at the other’s back. “For fuck sake, lose yourself a little. I thought you’ve learned how it should be done.”

Yanagi started playing at the pachinko machine next to Niou’s. “We have a schedule to fulfill and you’re not sticking it to it,” he hissed as he started to crack the machine’s algorithm in his head. He could break it in ten minutes if he put his mind to it, and empty it before they went to try and sneak inside the room where the bigger bets were made.

Niou gave him a side glance and shrugged.

“Puri.”

Yanagi heard no more, as he focused all his attention in trying to get the money he needed, with or without Niou’s help.

 

As they approached the exclusive room where the higher bets took place past midnight, Yanagi expected Niou taking a sudden turn and enter through a secret door to explain an elaborated plan for the night. He didn’t foresee the host at the entrance to just _bow_ at them and welcome _Niou-sama and his honorable guest_.

It wasn’t the time nor the place to ask about the unreality of all, so Yanagi faced the tables as he would have faced a tennis court years prior: with strength of knowing himself the best of managing the players and the playground, empowered by the certainty of victory. _Losing was not an option_.

After all the hard work in getting to know themselves as partners in crime, it was easy to read Niou’s mannerisms and subtly hints to act accordingly. Apparently, Yanagi had overestimated the skills of the possible players and after a couple of rounds, he didn’t even need Niou to easily beat them. Money piled up on his side and Yanagi could see the dumbstruck faces of rich people that were slowly falling into the rhythm he had established so carefully. Three more rounds would give him more than enough to cover even Yukimura’s recovery stay as well.

Suddenly, there was an arm around his neck and Niou’s drunken laughter filled the room, followed by some other player's. Probably some bad shallow joke had been said, it was not of Yanagi's business. He frowned when Niou didn’t move and tried to push him off, only to get Niou’s drink on his white shirt.

“Shit! Sorry, mate. Here, let me clean you up,” Niou said picking up some napkins but the stains wouldn’t come off. Yanagi cursed quietly. What was wrong with Niou? “No, it’s not coming out. Let’s go to the bathroom then.”

“It’s alright. It was an accident, forget it.”

“No, no. I insist, it was totally my fault. Let me fix it.” Niou stumbled to his feet, picking up their casino cards from the table before grabbing Yanagi by the arm and forcing him to do the same. “Keep our seats warm and our drinks cold, would you?” he said to one of the waiters while tipping him generously. The man bowed deeply and the games resumed before they even left the room.

Niou dragged Yanagi through the casino to the bathroom and after shoving him inside, he locked the door close.

“What the fuck was that?!” He hissed through clenched teeth and he cornered Yanagi against the tiles.

“I should ask you the same question, _Niou-sama_ ,” Yanagi challenged, not the slightest intimidated by Niou’s outburst. He had been taking the uninterested attitude from him all night, and even the fact Niou kept on consealing information from him. Yanagi had enough.

“You’re fucking things up! You’re not supposed to win that easily. They’re dumb as fuck but Atobe isn’t. You’re lucky as hell he’s not here tonight,” Niou said and Yanagi thought it was the first time he had ever seen him mad, and with Niou’s feline nature it was an unnerving sight. Cats were unpredictable and dangerous when upset.

“Pardon me if I’m mistaken, but how is getting drunk and keeping vital information from me any use for the success of our operation. I’ve made 343.5% more money than you tonight. If someone is being a liability for the job, it’s you.”

Niou didn’t reply and just stared at him for a long time. Yanagi was unsure if he was being analyzed or just glared at. He couldn’t bring himself to care, because he was right. Niou raised a hand and for a moment, Yanagi thought he would need to dodge a punch but Niou just shoved Yanagi’s casino card into his front pocket.

“Just leave.”

And Yanagi didn’t need to be told twice. 

 

(x)

 

“Hello.”

Niou totally should have checked the peephole before open the door. He stared at Yanagi for a moment, considered that yes he was still pissed off, and slammed the door close on Yanagi’s face without saying a word. Would he be the knocking-until-you-open kind of guy? Niou listened intently but nothing else came from the other side of the door. Of course not, Yanagi was the running away kind. Niou shrugged and picked up a snack before resuming his video game. This was his the second play-through and damn that villager was looking good. Maybe he could get some extra item from him before starting the last quest.

 

  
“Jesus fucking ---” Niou cursed and hissed as the cord from his headphones got around his neck when he tried to throw them away. He had just finished the game and was starting to stretch a little when he saw something out of the corner of his eye only to find Yanagi sitting on the floor near the door. Let alone the fact he broke into his house, he just sat there for heavens know how long so quietly that Niou didn’t notice him before. It was fucking scary. “What’s _wrong_ with you?”

“Ah. I apologize,” Yanagi said looking down and bowing slightly, without standing up. “The chances of you opening the door if I tried banging again were 3.5% and picking up one of my calls 0.45%. I was in need of seeking other paths of resuming contact with you.”

“By committing felony to get your way.”

“Wasn’t that the reason you sought me out in the first place?” Yanagi replied and Niou had to agree he had a point. That of course didn’t make it less creepy or Yanagi less of a jerk. Niou turned off the screen of his computer and waited for the other to talk because that seemed the only way to get rid of him.

Yanagi sighed quietly.

“You’re mad.”

Did Yanagi expect him to nod in agreement? Wasn’t slamming the door shut on his face enough of a statement? Niou had perfectly valid reasons to be mad. They had been working on the Atobe job for _months_ and once Yanagi gathered enough money, disappeared after fucking things up and without fulfilling his part of the deal. No matter how you saw it, Yanagi was an ass. A hot one, but still an ass

“So?”

“I just came to apologize for my behavior last time. I had more than enough time to think; hospital waiting rooms are perfect for over-thinking, after all,” Yanagi said quietly, and even if he wasn’t the greatest one to show emotions, he looked rather baffled by his own words. “I told you I did it for the money, when you asked. My friend—my family was terribly sick and needed a surgery we couldn’t afford; his condition complicated sooner than expected and I got riled by the good playing rhythm. Even if I see now that I completely failed to comply with my part of the bargain in the partnership we constituted, I wouldn’t have changed my actions if I was giving a second chance. The compromise or the thrill of game will never be more important than the life of a loved one, at least for me.”

Well that made it harder for Niou to hate him. Of course it needed to be a noble shit of some kind. The whole situation sucked but Niou probably would have done the same if he had been in Yanagi’s shoes. Niou needed to give Yanagi the credit for coming and apologize. Well, sort of.

“Of course, I do not plan to escape from the compromise that I’ve made with you. I will pay you the money I owe you and now that Seiichi is showing a promising recovery, I can focus myself to this game of yours too, Niou,” Yanagi continued, not hiding under his usual poker face. Niou had found it always hard reading him completely because it felt like he was being read back, but not this time.

“You were supposed to be the one who wasn’t swept off his feet by emotion. That’s why I picked you,” Niou said while he stretched on his recliner, not giving in. What was the fun in that anyway? “What guarantees me that it won’t happen again?”

“My mind was clouded by fear, and there are only a couple of things that scare me. The most important one had been settled as a couple of days ago. I don’t see this becoming a problem if you were to accept our partnership again.”

“Mmm.”

“I was also thrown back by the lack of information over the plan the last time we met. Unknown factors only increase the chance of failure. I didn’t know what you expected of me but to take the business in my own hands and prevent us from ending up in jail,” Yanagi said, and Niou just smirked at the words.

“You weren’t aware of them, but they weren’t unknown factors,” Niou said as he looked down at Yanagi. He actually looked kind of cute when he was confused. “I told you I didn’t do this for the money. I do make a living out it, but it’s not the main reason. That is because I don’t actually need it. My family name can grant me access to pretty much anywhere I want, just like that night. Why do you think I started the cosplaying thing? It gets boring quite easily.”

Niou let that sink and sit back to enjoy watching Yanagi’s dumbstruck expression.

“Your family name. What would that have to do with--- Niou. As in JGC’s investment director Niou Masayuki ? _That_ Niou?!”

“Yup.”

“Why are you even doing this? Putting yourself at risk like this when you could have whatever you want pretty much handed it over to you?”

“I’m going to answer you when you stop making stupid questions,” Niou replied slightly annoyed. He had pinned Yanagi as a clever guy, like Yagyuu. The very first friend he had that didn’t judge him or value him by his family’s position. Yanagi shut up immediately and looked deep in thought for a long moment.

“I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

“Again.”

“I… it’s been a long week,” Yanagi said sounding tired, “please excuse my lack of objective thinking as of late.”

Niou shrugged. “It happens to all of us from time to time. Still, you managed to break into my house. Did you ask for the spare keycard from the landlord? Damn, fujoshi, you probably just fueled her fantasies.”

“I broke the numeric code on your lock,” Yanagi said with a smug smile on his face. _What?_

“That’s impossible. It’s a ten number combination. You couldn’t have break it in so little time.”

“It is impossible, I agree. There are a ten million possibilities,” Yanagi’s smirk grew larger and it looked like he was choking back laughter. _It couldn’t be that…_ “There is a much limited number of gay hotlines, on the other hand. You seemed like the type. I got the right one by the third try.”

After the initial moment of shock, Niou believed he had never been this angry before, so angry all he wanted to do was to kiss and fuck the other silly. 

And Niou did just that.

 

Apparently, business make a good after sex talk. Their kind of business anyway. Yanagi was lean and bony, but surprisingly warm and his arms were long and useful to cuddle into. Not that Niou was into that, they ended up like that and felt real good so he wasn’t complaining.

“So have you tried sneaking into Atobe’s playrooms with a disguise before?” As good as Yanagi looked with a suit and slicked-back hair, he looked the best all messed up and blushed after sex.

“Yeah… got kicked out four times. Atobe has this weird thing of noticing shit most people don’t. He can’t see _me_ in the disguise but he notices something’s up.” And it had been a fucking nightmare every time. “I can only stay in the bigger players’ room if I go as myself.”

“Well, there’s still one disguise you haven’t tried yet…”

“Hmm?”

“Atobe’s.”

“That’s fucking insane, totally mental.” But deep inside Niou knew it did make sense in a way. They could raise the bets to the sky and walk out with the biggest pot ever. If ‘Atobe’ won, the victory was on ‘the house’, and if Yanagi did it and ‘Atobe’ didn’t call on him for cheating, no one else would dare to do it. It was mental and that was why it would work too. Nobody would ever believe it. “If we get caught it’s lifetime in jail.”

“You said it. _If_ we get caught.”

Niou could feel himself getting hard again, and maybe even falling in love.


End file.
